"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels” 1 Corinthians 13: 1

"If I speak". The outer side of the human is human speech. The outer side of the angels is the angel's speech. If a person talks without putting sense into his words, he is like someone, who has a stomach and lungs, but no head. To say that a person has no head is to say, that he has no course in his life.
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal." The word “clanging” implies lack of rationality. The one, who does irrational things, is always clanging. Usually the empty things clang, while the full things are peaceful and quiet and do not make any noise. Each thing devoid of meaning makes noise. Consequently, the one, who is clanging, might speak with the tongues of men and of angels, yet he does not have Love.

"And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing..." (Verse 2) Faith is for humans, knowledge - for the angels. So, if you possess the faith of men and the knowledge of angels, but you have no Love, you are nothing. A man may be big and strong like an antediluvian mammoth, or like a contemporary ship that splits the water and frightens the fish, yet unless he has no Love, he is nothing. No matter how big the ship is - as soon as it enters the port, it becomes nothing. If the ship is not being utilized, it will stay for some time in the port till one day they scrap it. The human is like a ship, too. As long as he has great ideas, he splits the water and frightens the small creatures - as soon as he stops at one place - all ends for him - they discard him.

“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (Verse 3) What does one profit if he bestows all his wealth or knowledge to the people without Love? Neither he, nor those he gave something to, will profit. What would the poor man profit by the rich man’s coat - he will die anyway. Till he dies, though, that is, unless he has already entered the immortality realm, the person is constantly clanging and living with transient things. If one day he is happy, the next one he will be unhappy; if one day he is healthy, on the next one he will be ill; if one day he is learned, on the next one he will be ignoramus; if one day he feels young, on the next one he will feel old. The state of the one who is old, or of the one, that has prematurely grown old, is terrible indeed. Getting old, man cannot see and hear well and is preoccupied with old problems. He speaks about his childhood, parents and relatives, and his fellowmen. There is nothing new for him. In fact, he waits to be rejuvenated in some way. Man cannot rejuvenate unless Love visits him. Love rejuvenates the human. Love makes man immortal. It deposits in him the opportunities for all achievements. If man has no Love he can do nothing. Without Love he is only transferring the things. If he is an artist, he only blotches the canvas, but he does not paint. The one, who has Love in him, is a real artist. A real sculptor is the one, who has Love in him. If the sculptor has no Love, he will squeeze the clay rather than model it.

Not understanding the law of Love, people get mutually disappointed and say: the world is bad, and other people are bad, too. The people’s wickedness is their outer side. Wickedness is the clay of life, but not real life. Water, although it is valuable, covers the streets, houses, and people with mud - this is not its only feature, though. Against their will, people cover each other with mud - this is not their only feature, though. Words exist, that cover with mud, and others, that purify, too. If man speaks with Love, his words always purify.

"Charity suffereth long." (Verse 4) Patience is the foundation of life. If man has no patience, he cannot accomplish anything. If we say a person is patient, it means he bears everything calmly. It might be raining, wind might be blowing, dust might be flying - he remains quiet and calm. If we say a man is affected by sufferings and death, we mean he is in them. If he does not want them to affect him, he should step out of them. God has put life in man – not death. He has put delight in man - not suffering. Death is something external - not internal. The one, who cannot suffer, is in the realm of impatience. In order to be able to bear, he should come out of impatience and come into patience - one of the great qualities of God.

"Love is kind." (Verse 4) - In order to be kind, man should not differentiate between rich and poor, between the learned and the ignoramus. The rich, likewise the poor, originate from God. The learned, likewise the ignorant, originate from God. The difference between these men is basically that the rich and the learned are patient, while the poor and the ignorant - impatient. If they become patient, then both the ignorant and the poor will acquire the features of the first two. And they will become benevolent. In order to be benevolent, man should not be in conditions that deprive him of his essential needs. Should he deprive himself of air, water, light, and food? Not depriving himself, he should not deprive his fellow men as well. As he satisfies himself and his fellow men, he will be benevolent indeed.

"Love does not envy." (Verse 4) Only this man envies, who is deprived of musical sense. He can separate two people that Love each other and break their relationship. If a person envies, he will live in poverty, for only poor people envy. In order not to envy, a man should work on himself, so that he can get rich and ennoble his heart. Should the mother of the children that are not dressed well envy the rich children dressed in expensive clothes? For whatever reason, the children of the poor are dressed poorly, while the children of the rich are dressed in expensive and luxury clothes? By what reason some countries are always growing rapidly and are always green, while others do not grow well? The trees, situated in the sun and in favourable conditions, are always green and growing well. Trees not situated in the Sun, are always sentenced to death. They wither away. Consequently, each man, who is not dressed well, is not situated under the beams of the Divine Sun. Between God and his soul there stands someone, who is casting a shadow on him. I use the word "dressed" in its broader sense here – by this word I mean to be physically and spiritually dressed.

So, as difficulties and sufferings enter your life, this means, that someone else has entered between you and God. As you realize that he overshadows you and that he prevents the sunbeams from shining on you, move one step higher quickly. If he again attempts to hinder you, move another step higher. The one, who loves you, will never hinder the beams of the Divine Sun that are basking you. He will stand out of their way – he will definitely not stand in the way of these beams. For fear that some bad people might deprive them from the beams of the Divine Sun, many people, especially the religious ones, are trying to work, aiming to occupy a place on the right hand side, or on the left hand side of God. They do not know that these places are strictly appointed. People can occupy only the places on the left hand side of God. The right hand side is reserved for angels. If a person occupies a place on the left hand side of God, he is being subjected to tests and suffering. So, if someone strives to occupy a place on the left hand side of God, he should be ready for suffering and tests.

Not being able to stand the tests, man likes to go to the other world. The other world is a world of suffering. While man suffers, he has no idea, that he has already entered the other world. That is why, while he suffers, he should not like to go to the other world, he should like to enter the world of delight, where the angels live. The sorrows and the sufferings are the human world, while the delights are the angelic world. While he suffers, man is in hell - he is in the human world. While man is delighted, he is among the angels in paradise. Heaven is where the angels live; hell is where humans live. What is hell to a person? The bad and the criminal things that one does – things, to which he wants to give a beautiful outlook, are nothing but states of hell. You often meet young ladies dressed nicely, but it is enough to get near them to taste their bad character. From the outside they look pleasant and beautiful, but inside they are ugly. Nothing remains hidden in life. The inner things may easily come out. As soon as a man starts talking and expresses his thoughts and feelings, you can see what kind of person he is.

"Where there is knowledge, it will pass away." - So all the knowledge, attained and applied without Love, will pass away - it is not able to withstand. Such knowledge is temporary and everything temporary and transient is sentenced to death. The real knowledge, though, will go with the human. It is immortal - as the human soul.

"As soon as I became a human, I departed all that was juvenile." - In other words: since I began thinking I left the transitory things. "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child." (Verse 11) This does not mean that to be a child or juvenile is something bad. These are just periods through which a man should inevitably pass. Evil is a stuffing, from which a man has to release himself. If he does not make any effort to free himself from the evil, he will suffocate. Evil is poison, which a person will personally taste. He will be the first one to drink the poison he poured into his cup. The more you are interested in evil inside you, or inside your fellow men, the more you attract it and give it priority. Walk past and away from evil without seeing it, without arguing with it. Pay attention to the goodness in humans. Inside each person lives two beings: one of them is good and the other one - bad. Whatever you do, you will not free yourself from evil. This is the reason for which a man is at times dissatisfied by life and by the conditions in which he finds himself. The good being within the human makes him pleased and happy. Man has content and discontent in equal degrees; he owns both joy and sorrow. The human stands outside the content and discontent, outside joy and sorrow. He only watches, tastes things, and learns from them. Man is destined to work, learn, and prepare a place for Love within himself. Everything through which he passes - knowledge and ignorance, sorrow and joy, content and discontent - are stages, through which he should pass, so that he can prepare himself for the great moment in his life - the acquisition of Love.

It is known, that Love does not envy and is not jealous. If he is jealous, man has not provided a place for Love within himself. Jealousy hampers man to progress and develop properly. As soon as he sees something good and beautiful, the jealous one wants it for himself. If he meets a strong and healthy horse, he wants to have the same qualities for himself. He does not know that if he is strong and healthy as a horse, they will burden it a lot. What will he gain from the heavy burden they make it carry? In what way does the master treat his horse? As soon as the master burdens his horse, he slashes it with his whip and says: Come on, go without turning back. Why have you lagged behind so much in your development? In order to change your present situation, you should bear the heavy burden and serve your bigger brothers. The one, who does not understand this language, says: Poor horse, his master thrashed it. Then what will you say for the sculptor, who is beating the stones with his hammer? Are these hits proper? He chooses a stone and starts to hit and quarry from it the pieces that are not necessary. He means to carve something from this stone, to sculpture this stone into a beautiful form. What the hits of the sculptor are for the stone, the same are the sorrows for the human. When man suffers, this means, that Providence is hitting him with his hammer, so that all the unnecessary things might be dislodged from him. As a result of each suffering man relieves himself from something that tortures him. When does man suffer? When he bifurcates within himself. If the brother and the sister in a house do not get along, they suffer. When they do not get along, they need their father and mother to help them come to terms. What will they gain, if, for instance, the father takes the son’s side, and the mother takes the daughter’s side? The opposite might also happen: the father might take the side of the daughter, while the mother might take the side of the son. In such a case, they would not gain anything special as well. Why? They would not gain anything special because the reason for the misunderstanding between the brother and the sister is within themselves. They are uncertain. It was said in the Scriptures: "A home that lacks unity would not last." Knowing this, beware of uncertainty. If you make a mistake, do not hesitate, and do not contemplate why you have made it - correct it instead. There are mistakes that should be corrected immediately. Their correction is urgent.

"But the greatest of these is Love." (Verse 13) Whoever has Love, has the power to eliminate all difficulty and all suffering. If you had Love in yourself, you would have easily coped with the rain and the thunder. If you cannot cope with them, then you have no Love in your heart. To have Love means to have bright thoughts and noble feelings. If you have such thoughts and feelings within yourself, then you will be pleased by everything that has been given to you. When you eat, you will be pleased with the food. When you sleep, you will be pleased with your sleep. When you do well, you will be pleased as well. In other words, when man thinks, feels, or undertakes something good, the sun of his soul should shine so warm and bright, as the physical Sun is shining on a warm day in May. In this Sun man should see the Divine Light that bears opportunities for the growth and development of the human soul. The bright thoughts are beams from the Light of the Divine Sun while the good feelings are beams from the warmth of the Divine Sun. Without the beams of this sun man can neither think nor act.

As you watch the sky, you see small clouds there. They show that there is something in man that should be cleared. Who will help him? The wind. Today it blows behind your back, thus making you move forward without thinking of the ground. On the whole, the sky is clean and has a pleasant blue colour. As soon as you look at it, you feel joy. Such should be the sky of your soul as well. It should be illuminated by Love. In order to attain this, strive to Love people - do not expect them to Love you. If you look for someone to Love you, you will finally get disappointed and see, that whoever loved you is not the one whom your soul has expected. He may stand in front of you, but he is not the one you expected.

Once, one of the Russian emperors gave the following task to one of his ministers: I want you to answer three questions that interest me. I have been thinking about these things for some time. The minister was in a quandary and did not know in what way to answer the king. He met a monk, who undertook to solve the task. For this purpose, the monk dressed in the clothes of the minister and thus attired, he appeared before the king. He managed to answer the first two thoughts of the king, but on the third one, he got completely confused. At last, though, he answered his third thought as well: You think your minister sits before you now, but you deceive yourself. Before you sits a monk - not your minister. Consequently, in each separate case man should know exactly who stands before him: the minister of his country, or a monk. Then a man will definitely know, that if even one of the ministers of a given country cannot solve one of the three questions put by the king, then the monk will solve so much less.

"Love is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." (Verse 5) Love solves all the difficulties and contradictions. Love gives meaning to knowledge. Love gives value to everything. It was said in the Scripture: "God is Love." Where Нe is present everything acquires meaning, everything acquires Love. As soon as he enters the realm of Love, man enters the Divine World. As soon as he enters the realm of knowledge - he enters among the angels. As soon as he enters the realm of faith, he enters among the people.

When there is some talk about Love, many people are afraid of it. Why? Because they know the Love that destroys the human. They do not know that there exists Love, which revives the people. This Love excludes all the contradictions and doubts. Real Love implies eating. To Love a man means to eat him. If you cannot eat him, then you do not love him. Eating is an internal process. Consequently, to love somebody means to accept him as he is. As soon as he enters into you, you should give him a special place and begin to study him. Meanwhile you should pray. To eat without a prayer is improper. While he eats, man should pray. As soon as he puts a pear into his mouth, he should start to pray. As he prays, the food will affect the human organism favourably.

In the chapter from the Corinthians, that was read, the features of Love are discussed. Thus you will stop being embarrassed by anything. Do not be embarrassed about what people do, or experience: an ill person will experience his illness, a poor person will experience his poverty, a suffering person will experience his sufferings, etc. Whatever happens in your life, or in the life of your fellow men, is for good. Know, that God is present everywhere and within each thing: in suffering and in joy as well. There is no suffering, in which God is not present. There is no joy, in which God is not present. In order that man can see God and recognize Him, man should be pleased with all the happenings in his life and should not murmur. If he is not pleased, he will not be able to make use of the various opportunities around him - he will seek just delights instead. The delights are just one side of life, though, in which man can grow and develop one-sidedly only. In order to develop properly, man should constantly move between the poles of life: joys and sorrows, light and darkness, good and evil.

Contemporary people talk about Love and live within Love without getting it. In order to get it, they have to penetrate the love of the human, angelic, and Divine World. As they enter in these three worlds of Love, they will know all those, who love them. For the time being, people recognize just those whom they love, but not those who love them. To get to know Love, they should get familiarized with both parties and think of them. For instance, man knows his mother, father, brothers and sisters, his friends - he does not know the angels that love him and he does not think of them. He does not even suspect that each of his delights is due to the presence of an angel in him at all. As soon as the angel is gone, man starts to grieve. No matter whether man grieves or enjoys, God is in him: while man grieves, God is hidden deep within his soul; while he enjoys, God manifests himself outwardly. So, God manifests himself everywhere as Love, but He never talks about Himself. This shows, that the Love of God cannot be voiced. God’s Love should rather be shown – not spoken. To manifest your Love means to direct your thoughts and feelings towards the great Divine World.

So, if he strives towards the new life, man should think, feel, and breathe properly. While man prays, he breathes. Breathing implies proper thoughts and proper feelings. While man inhales and exhales, he should breathe slower but deeper. While he prays, man should stand before God with joy and satisfaction with everything given to him. He should give thanks for the Light and pure thoughts, for the beautiful and elevated feelings, that are being sent to him. He should be thankful, for he has come to Earth surrounded by good parents and friends; he should be thankful for the Sun that shines, for the water and air around him; for the wind, rain, and clouds that surround him. The clouds that surround you as well are nothing but filters that purifies human thoughts and feelings. As you purify your thoughts and feelings, you might learn to live properly. As you live properly, you will not disturb the Divine in yourself, that is - the Holy Spirit, for whom it was said in the Scriptures: "Do not hurt the Spirit within you!" As soon as some bad thought comes into your head, ask it to go away until you finish your job. Let it come again after you finish your job. Thus you will do your duties and then be free to talk with it. If you proceed in this way, this thought will set you free. Whenever you are attacked by dark thoughts it shows they are afraid you might stop loving them. They are your friends from the past, who like to take something from you. Give them what they deserve and send them away. They live from your Love. If you do not love them, they would not be able to exist. Until you are able cope with them, give them something now and then, but do not bind with them.

Consequently, in order to get free from the contradictions in life, man should bring Love in his head, faith in his heart, and hope in his body. Thus he can get the new science that explains the inner sense of the phenomena. For instance, according to the new science, the oxygen and the hydrogen combine and form water, which they consider as their child. Oxygen has the ability to give, while hydrogen has the ability to take. As they drink water, people aim at attaining knowledge of oxygen’s ability to give, and of the hydrogen’s ability to take. If someone says he wants to be a woman, this implies willingness for taking, for gathering. If someone says he wants to be a man, this implies a willingness to give. The male principle, that is - the mind in man - gives, while the female principle, that is - the heart in man - gathers. As a result of these two processes - giving and taking - the human body has been created. The outcome of the work of both the human Spirit and soul is the human mind.

Lecture held by Peter Deunov (Beinsa Douno) at seven rila lakes in the summer of 1939, Sofia